Variable-spacing mechanism for type-writers.



No. 889,227. PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908. J. B. HAMMOND,

VARIABLE SPAOING MECHANISM FOR TYPE WRITERS.

-APPLIGATION FILED MAR.10. 1906.

, To all whom it may concern."

' more.

JAMES BARTLETT HAMMOND, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

VARIABLE-SPAGING MECHANISM FOR TYPE-WRITERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2, 1908.

Application filed March 10, 1906. Serial N 0. 305,894.

Be it known that I, JAMES BARTLETT HAMMOND, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, New York State, have invented certain new and useful Imrovements in Variable-S acing Mechanism or Ty e-Writers, of whic the following is aspec' cation.

My invention relates to ty ewriters of the general class known'as the ammond, and it concerns particularly means for securing variable letter spac' The invention consists in the features and' combination .and arrangement of parts hereinafter described aiid particular y pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying1drawings,l?igure 1' is a plan view of so muc of a carnage escapement mechanism of the Hammond typewriter as is necessary to -a clear understanding of my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the escapement mechanism.

In these drawings, I have shown the main base frame only in outline.

The carriage rack is indicated in dotted lines at 1, being guided in the usual manner by rollers 2 on the base frame and meshing with the gear 3 of the sprin drum 4 and with the gear 5 on the shaft 0 the escapement wheel 6. This escapement wheel is con trolled in the usual manner by a pawl 7 engaging therewith and by a detent 8. The detent 8 is on an escapement lever 9 connected with the keys in the well known manner, and the pawl .7 is carried by a hammer lever 10, freely ivoted upon the shaft of the escapement w eel. Heretofore, this lever has been controlled in such a manner as to allow the pawl 7 to have a limited amount of movement circumferentially of the escapement ratchet so as to produce the uniform minimum letter spacing. By In present invention I design. to control the movement of this lever so that the escapement movement may be-e ual to a distance of one letter s ace, or a larger number-of letter spaces, or instance, 2, 3, 4, 5 6 or The pawl 7 is controlled by a forked arm 11 extending from the escapement lever 9, a pin 12 on the said pawl 7 engagin a curved slot 13 in the said arm 11 this s ot being curved concentrically to the axis of the escapement ratchet.

In order to Vary the retractin movement of the lever 10 with the pawl 7, provide an adjustable stop to engage the tail piece 14 of The disk may be set in any desired ositi'onby means of a lever 19 pivoted to t e base frame at 20 havin a pin 21 enga ing a radial slot 22 in the dis the forwar said lever being forked at 23 and engaged by an arm or finger 24 .carried by a sliding bloc 25 adjustable in the frame 26, a handle .27 being provided to set the slidin block, and a scale 28 serving to indicate t e different positions of the sto 'according to the position of the said han e in relation to the numbers on the scale. 1

The hammer for making the impression is of substantially the same form as is well known in the Hammond construction, the arm carrying the same being indicated at 29, and this hammer is connected with the hammer lever 10, but instead of'the usual'swiveled connection, I employ a loose connectionbetween these parts,

consisting of the forked end 30 of the lever 10 into which projects a pin 31 of the-hammer, or this loose connection may be provided in otherways, for

end of the instance, by sim lyformlng an enlarged opening in the en of the lever 10 to receive the in 31. When the machine is at rest the paw 7 is in enga ement with the ratchet or escapement whee 6 and the detent 8 1s out of engagement with said escapement Wheel.

en the machine is operated thelever 9 is-moved, causing the for ed arm 11 carrled thereby tothrow the pawl 7 from enga ement with the escapement wheel an t e hammer then flying forward makes the 1mpression and the hammer lever moves in the direction of the arrow as, so that the pawl 7 willget in position to rengage the escapement wheel to be carried forward thereby 1n the direction of the arrow g untll the tall piece of the lever 10 strikes t e fixed stop 32' in the ordinary manner.- When thepawl 7 is thrown out of engagement with theescapement wheel, the detent 8 isthrown into engagement so that upon the returnl of I the a lever 9 to its normal P03113101]. with the detent "escapement wheel 'in the direction of the arrow y will depend upon the distance the hammer lever 10 moves in the arrow direction as when the pawl 7 isdisengaged from the escapement wheel. The loose connection between the hammer and the hammer lever is provided so that the hammer lever will be free to move in the arrow direction so under the action of the spring 33 when the pawl 7fis released and thus it is only neces- \sary. to provide means for arresting the movement of the hammer lever 10 in the arrow direction :1; at diflerent positions in order to secure a variable spacing action, for instance if the hammer lever 10 moves in the arrow direction a: a distance e ual to one tooth of the escapement wheel, t e ordinary spacing will be performed, but if the lever 10 is moved distances equal to 2, 3, or more escapement teeth spaces, the letter spacing will correspond thereto and it will be seen -from the above that the amount of movement in the arrow direction at of the lever 10 will depend u on which stop shoulder is beneath the a justable stud or screw 18 of the tail piece ofthe hammer lever. The

shoulders 17 may be suflicient in number to enable the operator to readily. bring the carriage to different columnarpositions for tabulating.

It will be seen by reason of the employment of the-curved slot 13 concentric with the axis qf'the escapement wheel that the awl 7 will lie in position ready to engage thesaid teeth at whatever point the hammer lever 10 reaches in its retracting movement,

and this is an important feature of my invention. The spring 33 exerts tension on the hammer lever and besides operating it in the arrow direction a: when its pawl 7 is released from the. esca ement wheel, said .spring will prevent re ounding movement of the said hammer lever.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a hammer, an escapement ratchet wheel, a pivoted pawl 7, a hammer lever carrying the same, an escapement lever 9 having. a detent to engage the ratchet and an arm to operate the-pivoted pawl'7 out of" and into engagement with said wheel, and

a variable stop for the pawl carrying hammer lever, substantially as described.

2. In combination in a typewriter, a hammer, an-escapement ratchet wheel, an escape- 'tions and a detent for sea-227 ment lever, a hammer lever carrying a pawl to engage the escapement wheel, an adjustable stop to limit the movement of the hammer lever, a detent for the escapement wheel and connections leading from the key board independent of the character keys for setting the said adjustable stop. in different positions, substantially as described.

3. In combination in a typewriter, a hammer, an escapement ratchet wheel, a detent, an escapement lever, a hammer lever carrying a pawl to engage the escapementwheel, an adjustable stop to engage the hammer lever, and connections leading from the key board independent of the character keys for setting the said adjustable stop in different positions, said connections includin a slide adjacent the key board, substantial y as described.

4. In combination in a machine of 'the class described, a ratchet wheel for the escapement action, a pawl engaging the escapement wheel for letter spaci a carrier lever for the pawl, a disk, a plura ty of shoulders carried by the said disk for stopping the movement of the said carrier lever for variable spacing, means for adjusting the said disk and a detent for the escapement wheel, substantially as described. 1

5. In combination in a machine of the class described, a ratchet wheel for the es capement, a pawl, a carrier lever for the pawl, a disk having a plurality of shoulders to engage the lever, a lever engaging the disk, a sliding member at or near the key board engaging the said lever, a scale to set the sliding member and a detent for the ratchet wheel, substantially as described.

6. In combination in a machine of the class described, an escapement ratchet, a pawl, a lever carrying the same, a hammer,

and a loose connection between the hammer and the said lever. to allow movement of the lever independent of the hammer, and means for stopping the carrier lever at various posithe escapement ratchet, substantially as described.

7. In combination in a machine of the class described; an escapement wheel, a pawl, a carrier lever therefor, an arm having a curved slot substantially concentric with the .axis of the escapement wheel for throwing the pawl into and out of operation, means for stopping the carrier lever at various positions and a detent for the escapement ratchet, substantially as described.

8. In combination in a machine of the class described, an'escapement wheel, a pawl,

a carrier lever, a hammer, a loose connectlon between the said hammer and pawl lever, a spring for applying tension to and preventing rebound of the sald detent lever, a variable stop for; the carrier lever and a detent for the escapement ratchet, substantially as described.

9. In combination a ratchet wheel, a detent and escapement lever therefor, a hammer lever, a pawl carried thereby and movable independently of the hammer lever, an

adjustable stop for the hammer lever and a spring for ap ying tension to the said ham-. mer lever, su stantially as described.

10. In combination in a typewriter, a hammer, a carriage escapement mechanism including an escapement wheel, a detent there for, a pawl, a hammer lever carrying said pawl, a sto to limit the retracting move-' ment of the hammer lever, and means for o erating the said stop for securing variab e stopping actions comprising an adjustable member at the key board and a scale .by which said member may be set for'the difl'erent spacing movements, substantially as described. i 1

11. In combination in a typewriter, an impression hammer, an escapement ratchet wheel, a detent therefor, a hammer lever engaging'the hammer, a pawl carried b the hammer lever and arranged to engage t e escapement ratchet and an adjustable stop to limit the movement of the hammer lever to secure variable s acing movements of the hammer lever, su stantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES BARTLETT HAMMOND. Witnesses:

J. M. BANCRQFT, F. EQKLIN. 

